It’s finally here! The Winter 2019 season has ended, but in it’s place is the Spring season! There are many new shows starting up as always, and I’m here to talk about ‘em! Now since it’s only the first week of the season, I’m going to be covering more than just one show in this post, but about six or seven weeks in I’ll start writing about them individually, so that the shows have some time to develop. Don’t wanna make pre-mature predictions do we now? So, without wasting more time on this intro, let’s start!
Hitoribocchi no Marumaruseikatsu
Legal streaming: https://www.crunchyroll.com/hitoribocchi-no-marumaruseikatsu
Wow, the first show is one I didn’t even plan on watching! I saw the Reddit discussion post and decided to check it out, and you know what? It’s pretty darn good. It's been compared a lot to Watamote, but I haven't watched that yet, so I woudn't know how accurate that comparison is.
But to keep it short, the show is about a girl named Hitori Bocchi, which literally means 'alone' in japanese, so it's pretty clear what this shows main thems are going to be. The plot is simple, Hitori is going to finally start high school, but she's scared because her only friend form middle school, Yawara, is going to a different school than her. Theres just one problem: Hitori has extreme social anxiety. So to help Hitori make friends at her new school, Yawara has decided that she won't talk with Hitori until she has managed to become friends with everyone else in her class.
The show is manly focused on comedy, as is to be expected from shows like this. It's basicaly just "anime_irl: the show". I've watched a fair amount of shows with really timid and socially anxious characters, and one thing I really appreciate about Hitoribocchi is that Hitori isn't an anime otaku! It's definetely refreshing to see a show tackle this topic without following too many tropes.
Joshi Kausei
Legal streaming: https://www.crunchyroll.com/joshi-kausei
This is one of the shows I was planning on watching, and... well it's fine. Nothing special, it's exactly what you'd expect from a three minute short. There's not really any reason to watch this over something like 'Aiura', but it's good enough so i'll watch it. The show tries to have a distingushing traits by having no character dialouge in the entire show, but it's not really that much of a change to what it would be without it. It's definetely a weak hook.
Really, it's just a three minute episode with some cute character designs. If you're not super into cute girl shows like me, skip it.
Isekai Quartet
Legal streaming: I'd link to Funimation here but I can't even access the website because of my region.
Another one I planned on watching before it aired, Isekai Quartet isn't three minute shorts, just half minute episodes. I was pretty hyped for the show as soon as it was announced. I like Overlord, midly enjoyed KonoSuba (I know a lot of people love it, I just didn't find it that funny. Aqua is hot tho), thought Youjo Senki was prety darn good, and liked Re:Zero until episode 18.
So while I may have had mixed feelings on the shows being featured as a whole, I liked the characters themselves enough, and the sheer idea of an Isekai crossover show is pretty darn cool in its own. The show is a comedy with chibi designs, so no, you won't get your super serious crossover stuff here. It's light hearted fun and pure fan service. If you don't already like any of the shows being featured, you're not gonna like this one.
So yeah, after the first episode I think this is either gonna end up a 6 or a 7, might be wrong though. But if you like any of the four shows, definetly watch it.
Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san
Well boys, here it is. The no-doubt anime of the season, brought to us by none other than the great men over at Doga Kobo, the weekly moe fluff, Sewayaki Kitsune no Senko-san.
It's kind of a mishmash between Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon and... uh.... honestly it's just kind of Kobayashi with a cute fox girl instead of a dragon girl. I mean both main characters write code, both are suprised and initially want the supernatural creature out of their way when they first appear before them, and in both cases the supernatural being helps them through their daily life.
I don't expect this to be as good as Kobayashi, but I too think it'l be around that area of quality, a strong 7 or a low 8 is probably where i'm going to place this. Senko-san is fuckin' cute tho.
Kenja no Mago
Legal streaming: I'd link to Funimation here but I can't even access the website because of my region.
Well, I wasn't actually planning on watching this, I didn't even know this was coming out, But I saw a discussion thread, thought "eh, it's going to be a middle of the road isekai, but i'll check it out anyways". And would you have guessed, it ended up being a middle of the road isekai.
This show is literally just Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousokyoku. Not that Death March was very good, it was pretty darn mediocre, but it's literally the exact same plot. Japanese Officer worker gets transported to another world, becomes super powerful and gets all the girls. I mean this guy died at least, he didn't just get randomly transported, but seriously. The pacing is way too fast, characters start speaking way too fast and why does this even exist.
If you coudn't tell i'm dropping this show. If you're really into power fantasy isekai you'l probably like it, but if not, then do yourself a favor and skip this.
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Overall, I think this is going to be a pretty allright season. I have high hopes for Senko-san after last season's WataTen, and I imagine the rest probably aren't going to be higher than a 7. Maybe Hitoribocchi will manage to do it, maybe Isekai Quartet will become the greatest anime ever made, but I doubt that.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @tes_star for additional thoughts and updates whener I publish a new article. Matane!
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